"Serving West and East Village, Chelsea, SoHo, NoHo, Little Italy, Chinatown and the Lower East Side" SINCE 1933Volume 74, Number 27 | November 10 - 16 , 2004

InsideEditorialFeeling blue in a land of redThe election of President George W. Bush Tuesday was a devastating blow felt by most Downtowners, nearly half the nation and by millions of people around the world. As the president returns to the hard job of governing a divided nation, he should ignore the impulse to ignore those who voted against him, and instead reach out to the blue states.

Editorial CartoonTalking PointAdlai lost, too: Putting the election in perspectiveBy Ed Gold
Worse than catastophic! read an e-mail, adding: Looks like were moving to Europe. When do you want to leave?
The phone calls and e-mails came from all over the nation reflecting the malaise all of us losers felt, and in many cases indicating a sense of hopelessness about the countrys future.

Getting through the morning afterBy Wickham Boyle
We did everything right. We lit candles, we envisioned, meditated, donated money, voted early, called undecideds in Pennsylvania, supported our friends in Wisconsin and attempted in an unwavering way to believe. But now it is the morning after and I can see Kerry has lost.Without an umbrella: Dissent often works best wetBy Andrei Codrescu
Big sigh of relief. Now all you people against the war, scream for peace. Environmentalists, take out your boats. Civil libertarians, jump on the censors. Globalists, sing in French. Now that the sad umbrella that was John Kerry failed to keep out the rain, you and I can get back to our issues and go deep. Let the rain come down. Some of us work better wet. Im amazed how long weve bit our tongues.

NotebookFeeling a draft and worrying for the youth of todayBy Tim Gay
Everyone boarded planes, trains and buses bound for Ohio and Pennsylvania. Except for me.
As the deputy chief for elections in Manhattan, I was overseeing a choreography involving 9,000 poll workers and 1,836 voting machines going to 300 schools, synagogues, churches, senior centers and tax-abated luxury buildings. The Manhattan office operated around the clock for weeks, processing record numbers of new registrants, absentee applications and overseas-based federal voters.

The thrill of near victory; the agony of defeatOn Election Day, John Kerry was back in Boston in his home state of Massachusetts. Things started out expectantly, as Kerry supporters headed to the polls hoping he could pull off a victory like their Red Sox had done in the World Series.

Sports

Citizens of the Republic are learning the right skillsBy Judith Stiles
It is not the Ten Commandments from the Bible that is hanging on the wall of the gym at The Boys and Girls Republic on E. Sixth St. and Avenue D, but rather an upbeat Ten Commandments of Good Sportsmanship, hopefully to set a positive tone for hundreds of games played there throughout the year. Thou shall not gloat if you win. . . Thou shall not quit. . .Thou shall not take unfair advantage of an opponent.... They are seemingly elementary concepts put forth to guide the students, but they are also ideas that might have given pause to a few baseball fans during those gnarly games between the Yankees and the Red Sox.

NEWSNew twist is proposed for West Side developmentBy Albert AmateauA team of visionaries is proposing that the city, the state and the Jets scrap their current plans for the Hudson Yards redevelopment with the controversial New York Sports and Convention Center stadium and flip the project on its side to an east-west orientation.

After Bush win, progressives say the battle has just begunBy Ronda KaysenWhile most blue staters are still licking their wounds in defeat, some who were active in the months leading up to the presidential election are saying they are invigorated  not discouraged  by this latest setback. While many progressives express dissolution and alienation from the countrys expansive red states, these New Yorkers have laid out the groundwork for political action and intend to use it.

Photo by Kimberlee Hewitt

Mayor Bloomberg shook hands with a construction worker at the Avalon Chrystie Place project Friday, as Councilmember Margarita Lopez and Shaun Donovan, Department of Housing Preservation and Development commissioner, second from right, looked on.

Whole Foods, ymca and a mix of housing coming to E. HoustonBy Lincoln AndersonHailing it as a major milestone for the ongoing revitalization of the Lower East Side, Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Councilmembers Margarita Lopez and Alan Gerson led the celebration last Friday of the topping off of the new Avalon Chrystie Place mixed-use building on E. Houston St.

INSIDE THE VILLAGER

Tribeca mans family Torah is going back to GermanyBy Sascha BrodskyIn a way, Rick Landmans Torah is going home.This month, the 200-year-old Torah is returning to Germany, from where Landmans grandfather took it after fleeing the Nazis. Landman, a Tribeca resident, presented the Torah to representatives of a German synagogue Congregation, Beth Shalom, at Congregation Beth Simchat Torah, at 57 Bethune St., on Nov. 9.

Washington Sq. renovation is slated to start in JuneBy Albert Amateau
Plans for the long-awaited reconstruction of Washington Sq. Park will be presented to the public at the end of January and the beginning of construction is planned for June, according to William Castro, Manhattan borough commissioner of Parks.

Attorney says city knew Pier 57 was contaminatedBy Douglas Fricke
Almost 2,000 protestors detained by police for demonstrating during the Republican National Convention in August may have been held in a contaminated facility, an environmental lawyer has charged.
Chelsea neighbors want Viscaya nightclub shut downBy Albert Amateau
Residential and business neighbors of Viscaya, the trendy Chelsea dance club and lounge, last week asked Community Board 4 for help in shutting the club down because rowdy patrons, double- and triple-parked limos and the relentless pounding of music have made weekends in the neighborhood unbearable.

Its a dogs life for Village tunesmith on latest CDBy Melanie Wallis
Singer, songwriter and producer, Murray Weinstock, has combined his talent for music and his passion for man and womans best friend by creating a compilation CD of songs about dog behavior.

Bricks by Leibovitz buildings raise some suspicionBy Hemmy SoA dumpster full of discarded bricks and a large hole in the Greenwich St.-side facade of three landmarked buildings owned by celebrity photographer Annie Leibovitz raised a few eyebrows this past weekend. After the Landmarks Preservation Commission had assured Greenwich Village community members that restoration of the building facades would include the original bricks, the scene at the repair site didnt bode well.

Victory and alcohol dont mix for Kerry supportersBy Vin DeCrescenzo
For the many who gathered in bars and clubs along the Bowery, election night started as an excuse to go out drinking  but as the night progressed for Kerry supporters they found more and more good reasons to drink.

The sweet life: Chocolate Show is always in fashionBy Bonnie Rosenstock
You know its November when the leaves are ablaze with color, and the welcoming aroma of chocolate wafts through the lobby of the Washington Square Hotel at 103 Waverly Pl. The complimentary spicy Aztec hot chocolate from MarieBelle is how owner Judy Paul greets her guests who have come to town for the annual Chocolate Show. We like that smell. And we have already sold over 50 packages, which include tickets to the show and a chocolate goodie bag, Paul says. The Chocolate Show draws an amazing number of people from all over the United States.

N.Y.U. students learn music business by doing itBy Tyler Pray
Village Records is more than just a working record label, its a college class. For experience  and a grade  New York University students run the business. They do everything from selecting musicians for an album to putting the finished product on the shelves in local Village stores. They handle all the details involved from start to finish in producing an album. In the process, they learn how the real world works, from a safe and supportive university environment.

ARTSWhen prejudice was the normBy Jerry Tallmer
George W. Bush, say hello to Seaborn Roddenberry.
Who he? Seaborn Roddenberry was a Georgia congressman who in 1912, while white America was still reeling over Jack Johnsons 1910 Reno, Nevada, knockout of great white hope Jim Jeffries, proposed a constitutional amendment banning interracial marriages in these United States.

That Broadway feelingBy Jerry Tallmer
Cy Coleman, the Mr. Broadway of composers  from John Murray Andersons Almanac 51 years ago all the way through to 2004s in-progress It Started Like a Dream  is twice the recipient of a Johnny Mercer award, but lyricist Mercer and musics Coleman never, as it happens, wrote a song together.

Twenty-five years in the makingBy Jerry TallmerIt was  that music was, the first time composer/arranger Paul Buckmaster heard it  so intense I thought I was going to climb the walls and the ceiling. Some kind of future music.

koch on filmBy Ed KochBirth (+) This movie received mixed reviews. Had all the reviews been negative, I still would have seen it because of my fascination with Nicole Kidman and her superb acting ability. She always gives a fascinating performance.Team America (+) Not as good as its predecessor, South Park, but very good. Its also totally obscene and is definitely not for children. The movie is often hilarious as it spears the Hollywood radicals, particularly Alec Baldwin, depicted as their leader. The sex scenes between two marionettes are unbelievably graphic and funny. Who knew that pieces of wood could be so lewd?

Sarandon aims for intimacyBy Lawrence Ferber
In director Charles Shyers Alfie, gorgeous Jude Law plays a charming, womanizing, uncommitted chauffeur for the character played by Susan Sarandon. Might limousine drivers enjoy a boost in business after the sexy comedy opens this month?
Oh my God, if they look like Jude Law! gushed Sarandon. How cute is he? Is he just irresistible?

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